


Silence is Golden

by ssg



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Deaf Character, Eventual smut? I have no idea, M/M, Original Character(s), Sign Language, Tags May Change, Worgen, i didn't know where to go with this so i'm leaving it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-14 07:25:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1257874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssg/pseuds/ssg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young Worgen man goes to a tavern to meet his interpreter (for he is deaf and can only communicate through sign language), but meets another man instead. The interpreter eventually arrives, but before then the two have to communicate through other means, and that trend continues each time they interact; though their relationship persists despite the language barrier.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Horribly Performed Flirtations

**Author's Note:**

> There may be more chapters to this story, depending on the initial reactions that it gets. I'm not really sure what else to put here, since this is my first post and everything, but bear with me as I come to understand this website. Hope you enjoy the read! (Canol is pronounced Cah-null, basically Canola without the a on the end. Gri is pronounced like Gree. I'll try to add whenever I can, hopefully faster than monthly.

Deaf people are not well-known around Azeroth. Ask anyone to name someone deaf, and they would come up with very few names, if any at all. This would be one of the many reasons why Canol was confused as to why he was being ignored today.

Canol took a step inside his favorite tavern, the Pig and Whistle. The Blue Recluse was always too full of people, and it was just too loud for him. With newly 'adopted' senses that were higher than the average human's, too much noise was a big headache for him. He had been bitten and turned just a month ago, and was cured by the Gilneans in Duskwood two weeks after his turning. Well, cured in the sense that he regained some of his humanity back - he would always be Cursed from now on. He took the Curse very well, however, and was almost always in his Worgen form. This visit to the tavern was no exception.

He walked in with the slight waddling stride that Worgen men tend to have, not quite yet perfecting civilized walking. His time of being wild in Duskwood caused him to be down on all fours for moving around a lot, and with having a bigger body than he was used to, acclimating to walking like a regular person would take some getting used to all over again. Canol found it to be almost comical - a 23 year old man having struggles walking normally. Unfortunate, but he just has to adjust. His physique was pretty regular for a warrior, let alone a Worgen; bulky with muscle, tall, big feet. Thick gray fur, sharp teeth, broad shoulders, big paws. There really was nothing significant about Canol to anyone that looked at the man - "oh, another Worgen in Stormwind", they might think. That description has probably passed through many minds as he stays around the city. This other one, though... He was a bit different.

Golden/blond fur was pretty uncommon - at least, from what Canol has seen. The back of this stranger's furry mane was what he saw first, pale blond in color. Canol would have loved to have that kind of fur, and was instantly envious. The owner of the exotic fur was not paying attention to his gaze, writing down in what was assumed to be a journal. Something about this blond guy made Canol really, really want to talk to him. He wanted to know more about how he was graced with such beautiful fur, and how he had the tolerance to be able to concentrate through all of the noise of a tavern and still be able to write calmly in a book. Mostly the fur, though. The second part of that was mostly an excuse to get to talk to him.

Canol looked around the bar - there were a few tables available, but they were all the way upstairs. That's such a far distance to move, and stairs are such a pain... (More excuses.) So that settles it. He will talk to the blondie.

He was so excited that he did not even order anything from the bartender. He took a seat across from the other occupant, and there were six seats in all (two on each side, one at the front and back).

 

How odd, to be the center of someone's attention. All Gri was doing was write, and he somehow piqued someone else's interest. He looked up at this stranger, not recognizing anything about him, and sighed softly as he watched the man's mouth move. He did not hear any of it, giving a blank stare into the other's eyes. They were boring, brown ones -from a distance, anyway. Gri was a fan of green eyes, even though his own were brown as well. They displeased him whenever he looked into his own reflection.

After the stranger raised his eyebrows, giving a mildly agitated and accusatory look, Gri frowned slightly. 'Not my fault I can't hear you,' he thought to himself. On the other hand, he had no idea. On the other-other hand, Gri had no concern for this stranger. It was probably just another arrogant heterosexual man coming to make fun of the rarity on his skin, only to find out that he is unable to hear them. His translator was late. Without an interpreter like Kinopi, there may be no way to tell this person anything. Though, he did have a journal to write in... 'Hope you can read,' Gri thought to himself as he turned the page and wrote quickly. His penmanship was neat, and his writing utensil was a quill pen. Once he tore out the page, he put the quill on the paper, put the lid back onto the inkwell, and offered those three objects to the man impatiently awaiting a response.

 

Canol took these objects after furrowing his brows in confusion and pursing his lips in thought. "Are you a mute?" he asked. Of course, he didn't answer. "Weird..." He looked at the note, seeing that the page barely had any writing on it. The message was scrawled so that it appeared to be on a straight line. Damn, he writes with tiny words. After some careful scrutiny, Canol is able to decipher the message:  
"Hello, my name is Gri. I am deaf. What is your name?"  
"Oh. Deaf, then." Canol shrugs to himself, supposing this is an adequate explanation.

He writes back with sloppier handwriting, saying "Hi! I'm Canol!" These three words alone took a bit more than half of the space Gri used for his own message. He was about to give the paper back when he had a thought. He wrote down "Should I move closer, so that we don't have to keep passing it back and forth like this?" Halfway through that sentence, he decreased the size of his writing, since the amount of space he was taking was making him feel like he was wasting the paper. It really wasn't that bad, all things considered, but Gri wrote with tiny words... He felt it'd be better to save as much space as possible. He didn't bother capping the inkwell as he passed the items back.

 

Gri frowns softly. Whenever he says he's deaf, they usually leave him alone, but this one actually wants to try talking to him? This was cutting into his personal time, where he could just write to himself before his bossy interpreter friend shows up. Kinopi was okay most of the time, but she liked talking about women a lot and always tried to get Gri into that kind of thing, when he preferred men. That was probably the only reason he kept talking to this 'Canol' person right now. Brave women who tried to be suitors happened occasionally, but they were shot down quickly most of the time. Kinopi was one of those people, but when Gri told her that he's deaf, she just started speaking in sign language with him. "Deaf? Seriously? Oh my Goddess, I can finally put these skills to use!" she had signed to him that day. Gri had to admit that she was a valuable resource, because ever since then he's been using considerably less journal pages to talk to people who don't have the same skills that they have. It was rare to have an interested man talk to him. (Gri did wonder in what way Canol was interested, though. It probably really was some guy who wanted to point out the fur.) He wrote back, "Sure. Pick either of the seats next to me, I guess."

 

Canol moved closer after getting the message back, and then the two began to write to each other. A few bystanders watched the spectacle, slightly amused that they were quiet and huddled around a piece of paper.

"I didn't think you were deaf. I kind of just thought you wanted me to go away," Canol wrote.  
"No, just deaf. Sorry, haha," Gri replied.  
"You don't have to apologize! In fact, I should! I kind of gave you a dirty look."  
"That's true. Wow, you're so rude, with your dirty looks and whatnot."  
"...?"  
"...!"  
"..."  
"........"  
"That wasn't an invitation to a punctuation war," Canol scribbled.  
"Hey, you're the one who started it."  
"I just told you I didn't try to."  
"No, you said that wasn't an invitation to one. You did inadvertently start it."  
Canol smiled, and rolled his eyes.  
"Smartass."  
"Do you come to this tavern often?"

 

Gri panicked for a moment. 'Please, please, PLEASE do not recognize that as a flirtation', he thought. That was the most stereotypical pick-up line of anyone seeking courtship ever! Ugh, that was horrendous.

 

Of course, Canol recognized it. "Do I come here often?" he said out loud, quietly. 'Am I being flirted with?' he asked himself. Better not jump to conclusions...

 

"No, actually. Well... I guess how much you consider to be often? I've been in and out of this place for a week now. I've been trying to pick my favorite bar, and I liked this one the most! Do you...?"  
"You use a lot of dots when you write."  
"What do you mean...?"  
"It's like you're trying to emphasize that you're questioning your own thoughts."  
"What...?"  
"Stop that."  
"Stop what...?"

 

Gri flips the page over, as they had taken up one side. These pages weren't designed to be torn out, and their constant writings were quickly filling it up. He grins to himself, Canol noticing it out of the corner of his eye. Gri scratches the back of his head with his left hand before continuing their conversation.

 

"Don't play coy."  
"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about..."  
"This is a war you're going to lose."  
"Oh really...?"  
"Light damn it, stop that!"  
"Never..."  
"So help me, I will metaphorically shit on you."  
"What the fuck?"  
"I don't know, but it stopped the dots."  
"Did it...?"  
"LIGHT DAMN IT."

 

Canol was covering his mouth to hold in his laughter, not even being fazed by the 'seething' man Gri had suddenly become. Gri wasn't really angry, of course, he was just pouting with his arms crossed. Canol looked at his eyes, and got lost for a moment. They were really warm, unlike how cold their owner acted. Dark brown eyes, quite a few shades darker than his own. Gri caught his stare and just stared back. An unremarkable man making himself unforgettable within the course of ten minutes. Canol looked away first, and Gri stared for a few moments longer before looking away. He wasn't embarrassed at all, but Canol was. There was a pause in the writing before Canol regained enough composure to respond.

 

"Sorry about that."  
"About what?"  
"You know what."  
"I do?"  
"Yes you fucking do."  
"Wow rude again already, there's no need to swear at me."  
"Stop being so -"

 

Canol blushed underneath his fur intensely, immediately going to scribble out what he had written towards the bottom of the page. Of course, Gri couldn't stop him, and once he scribbled it out, he just awkwardly handed it back to Gri.

 

Gri put the detached page back where it was torn out from in his journal, turning to a new page and writing in it. Since Canol sat close by now, there was no need to tear out this one.

 

"What'd that say?"  
"Nothing."  
"It obviously wasn't nothing. What was it?"  
"You started it."  
"Started what?"  
"It."  
"What the fuck did I start?"  
"The flirting."  
"Oh, so you caught that?"  
Canol didn't respond to that one, so Gri continued. Odd, how he didn't feel any embarrassment at all as he wrote.  
"What did you write?"  
"I basically complimented your appearance."  
"How so?"  
"By saying I like the shirt you're wearing."  
"I'm wearing a robe, fucknut. You're the one wearing a shirt and pants."  
"Yeah, so? I like your robe!"  
"What. Did. It. Say."  
Canol writes four lines next to the words "I CALLED YOU:", and then writes "GUESS" underneath it.  
Gri goes through a few adjectives that could pertain to him involving flirtatiousness, and writes them down.  
"Oh, we're playing Hangman now? Okay...  
Gold, Tall, Prim, Deaf-"  
He had to admit, none of these words had to do with flirting. He just wanted Canol to say it - well, write it. He hands the journal back, much to Canol's displeasure.  
"No, no, no, no. You didn't even fucking try, did you?" He puts a C in the first space.  
Upon getting the book back, he takes one look at the letter and shrugs.  
"Wow, I'm stumped. You got me. What is it?"  
"It was 'cute' damn it, fuck off with your cluelessness."  
"Cluelessness isn't even a word."  
"It is now, you sack of shit!"  
"What a weirdo, you're attracted to a sack of defecation."  
"Oh fuck you, I know you like me too."  
"Gee, I dunno man, I just met you, my thoughts are kinda inconclusive."  
"Then I challenge you to go on a date with me."  
"Oh fucking wonderful, date the deaf guy. What are we gonna do, write to each other? And, by the way, 'challenge'? Seriously? Who challenges someone to go on a date with them?"  
"I don't fucking know! Just shut up, it doesn't have to be one of those stupid ass cliché dates where we eat in some fancy restaurant in the middle of the fucking sky or something. We could go on a picnic or something! Take a walk through Darnassus, go swimming in the ocean or some shit. I don't know. Let's just... do something."  
"I don't even know your last name."  
"Better yet, I'll give you my full name. Canol Flynn Redlake."  
"Your first name sounds like cooking oil in my head."  
"Who cares? What's your name?"  
"Grim Wesley. I don't have a middle name."  
"Grim?"  
"Yeah. I shortened it to Gri, though. That's pronounced 'Gree'."  
"Oh."


	2. Miscommunication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! I have no idea if anyone was kept in the dark about this - it would appear that there are people who like it - and by that, I mean I hope you weren't waiting. A whole month is probably a long time for a fic, but I've been swamped, so... here we go. Chapter two.

"Grim sounds awfully dark," Canol wrote.  
"What's dark is your romantic future if you date everyone by challenging them to," Gri wrote back.  
"Hey, I'll have you know that my romantic past and present are very successful."  
"Yeah, I'm talking about your future."  
"Considering that you're the next one in it, yes, I would say that it's dark."  
"Ooh, burn, I'm on fire. Little late on that reply."  
"Not as late as your response to my proposal. What's it gonna be?"  
"What proposal? Are we getting married? Hold up, I didn't sign up for anything."  
"No, you idiot. My challenge."

At this very moment, a Night Elf walked into the bar and immediately spotted her companion with no sense of hearing at all. She opened her mouth to call out in greeting, but she corrected herself, because he couldn't respond. They'd only been friends for a week - she'll have to get used to the setup, someday soon. Her gaze wavered on the newcomer, however. 'Who is that?' she asked herself. She didn't know him. Boring gray fur, long ears, sharp teeth. Yeah, it's the usual guy. 'Is Gri trying to hit that? Oh damn, I gotta get in on this.'

Canol looked up - Gri had stopped writing. He smelled her coming, so he instinctively hid the journal and shook his head at Canol. She should never see these pages, or else he'll never see the end of it. Canol looked at who was approaching - she was pretty, he supposed, though he could already tell she wasn't his type. Probably not the same orientation, either. Her speech pattern was... foreign, to say the least. "What up, wolfy?"  
"Excuse me?" asked Canol.  
"I said what up. You got a problem? Somethin' need taken care of?"  
Gri signed to her quickly, and she signed back. Canol frowned slightly as they went into rapid conversation with several hand signals, movements and glances from the Night Elf. Her hair was remarkably short, and her chest was... On second thought, Canol wasn't sure if this person was female or not. The voice sounded light in pitch, but did he mishear? Maybe she was wearing something that 'hid' them for comfort. He was aware that there were bras for practicality, rather than being used for provocative means. The piercings, too... Who the hell is this person?

Kanopi grinned. This guy was sizing her up - she could tell. She proudly displayed her earrings, her nosering, her lipring, and especially the most recent one, the one in her left eyebrow. That one took a while to accomplish. Yes, she was truly a sight to behold. Her smile soured a little as she caught his eyes lowering a little. 'Right... The straight ones have it wired in their brain to look there. Well, if I got mad at him, I would probably have to get verbally slapped by the Grim Reaper, so whatever. Roll with it,' she mused. She reached up with her left hand to scratch at her head, digging through bright pink hair to satisfy the itch.

Canol frowned immensely, and Gri pointed to the other seat next to him for Kanopi to sit in. She swaggered over, winking at Canol. "How ya doin'?"  
"I'm... fine. Thanks."  
"Same."  
Gri signs to Kanopi: "What'd you just say?"  
"Can't you read lips?" she signed back.  
"Not the way you talk."  
"Are you making fun of the way I speak?"  
"Yes."  
"If I could put my dialect into the way I sign I totally would. You're really lucky I can't."  
"If I could make fun of the way you present yourself without you getting another body piercing I would, too."  
"What's that? A belly button ring? Oh, I like the way you think! I'll start wearing bellyshirts just to show it off."  
"That won't be necessary."  
"Hey, umm, excuse me," Canol interrupted.

Kanopi slowly turned her head to look at him. "What?"  
"I'm still here."  
"Oh, right."

"Who's this kid?" Kanopi signed to Gri.  
"His name's Canola without an A at the end."  
"Haha, he's a cooking oil."  
"That's what I thought! And when you say kid, do you mean literally or..."  
"No, I mean attitude. Acts like he hasn't seen a butch before."  
"He probably hasn't. Not one as open as you."  
"Really?"  
"Yes."

Canol laid back in his chair - he wasn't going to get to talk to Gri anymore for the moment, it seemed. He'd have to be talking through this pink-haired girl. He crosses his arms over his chest and watches the two have their own conversation.

"So what do you make of him anyway?" Gri asked.  
"What do you mean?"  
"What do you mean what do I mean? What do you think of him?"  
"I just met the guy, I have no fucking clue what to think of him. Why are you even asking?"  
"No reason."  
"Oh, have you taken to him or something? ...Man I hate phrasing it like that. Fuck sign language sometimes."  
"Right..."  
"So?"  
"So what?"  
"Do you like him?"  
"What's it to you?"  
"You fucking like him."  
"Shut your mouth."  
"I'm not talking, I'm signing."  
"Shut up and interpret for me."

Kanopi raises her left middle finger to Gri, grits her teeth, and turns back to Canol. "Alright. Guess I gotta do my job now. You wanna say somethin'?"  
Canol raises his right eyebrow. "Does he read lips? Deaf people can do that, can't they?"  
"He's been trying, but he's really bad at it. He'll tell you otherwise but don't believe him."  
Canol kept his arms crossed over his chest, bored. He lost his interest, now that she was here. "Tell him to answer me."  
"Answer what?"  
"Just tell him to answer me."

"Gri, he wants to know your answer. Whatever that means."  
"I guess."

"He says yes, coconut."  
"Coconut? What is that supposed to mean?"  
"Oh, right. Canolanut. Is that better?"  
"Not really."  
"That's not a no, so Canolanut it is! Grimmy and Canolanut, I love it. What's this plan of yours, anyway? You got somethin' goin' on with Grimmy I need to know about? You his secret boyfriend or some shit?"  
"Maybe to the first question, no to the second."  
"What is it?"  
"Ask him if I should tell you, or if he should."

"Are you going to tell me what this arrangement of yours is or what?"  
"What do you think it is?"  
"Fuck if I know. I'll just have him tell me."  
This resulted in a sigh from Gri, and he rested his right elbow on the table, leaning his chin into his palm.

"Tell me, Canolanut. I wanna be the Interrogator Vishas of this situation. Hopefully there won't be any tearin'."  
"...Vulgar reference, but okay! I asked him out on a date."

"You're gonna date this guy?"  
"He challenged me, how can I turn down a challenge?"

"You challenged him to date you?"  
"So?"

"What the fuck?"  
"What? He's cute."  
"Would you have sex with him?"  
"Oh hell no, don't ask me that question."  
"Would you?"  
"Fuck off."

"You're lucky, I think he finds you fuckable."  
"Oh? Is that what he really said?"  
Kanopi grins and shakes her head. "Nah, but I'm gonna play it off like I did. Watch this."

"He says he'd fuck you until you moan his name."

Gri blinks a few times at Kanopi. He raises his hands to sign back, and then puts them back down. He looks to Canol, stares for a moment, then back to Kanopi. He frowns softly, then shifts his eyes to the other man once again. "Did he really say that?" he signs at last.  
"Hell yeah. Pucker up and spread your buttcheeks."  
Gri slowly puts his head down on the table and hides himself from view with his arms. Kanopi smiles innocently, nodding a few times at the black-robed worgen's situation. "He's probably pissin' his pants."  
"What'd you even say to him?"  
"That you'd fuck him senseless."  
"What?"  
"You heard me."  
"Why would you say such a thing?"  
"Because he's a gullible sack of shit. He should really learn that I lie my ass off all the time."


End file.
